Optimally Spirit Shroud works best with melee oriented lock builds.
Melee warlock doesn't have any way of attacking 8x/turn.
Who does, besides level 20 fighters?
As I said in the previous post, 'Sorlock setups that are designed around quicken spell to cast Eldritch Blast twice per round'
That would be 8 attacks at level 17, which few people ever achieve.
Doing a multi-class to quicken EB and combine it with Spirit Shroud is a reasonably effective method, but honestly I think a Hexblade is still the better use of Spirit Shroud.
At level 5: (2 warlock/3 Sorcerer) you can pull of 4 EB shots only once before you run out of sorcery points. A Hexblade with PAM can attack 3 times round over round.
When you get into 3 and 4 levels, the EB warlock will have more sorcery points and more EB's per turn, but it's still a limited resource and there's lots of other good (often better) uses for your sorcery points. The Hexblade is also doing a lot more damage per attack, and that's a long into the game before you reach those levels.
Again, I'm not saying the Eldritch Blast / Sorlock build is bad. But I think factoring everything the Hexblade is a more effective choice.
On the flip side: With all of those sorcerer levels you'll have a lot more spell choices and spell slots, and you'll be more like a primary caster. If that's what you want to be, mixing Spirit Shroud with Eldritch Blast is a great option. Even without spending sorcery points to buff EB, it's a great option for getting the most bang on limited resources. One 3rd level spell slot and you can cast cantrips the whole time and still do reasonable damage.
Optimally Spirit Shroud works best with melee oriented lock builds.
Melee warlock doesn't have any way of attacking 8x/turn.
Who does, besides level 20 fighters (and only when they use action surge)?
Any level 17 Sorlock.
Weapon based Warlocks do not need 8 attacks because they can get an additional 15 damage per hit from Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter and the Lifedrinker Invocation. Also a weapon lock doesn't need to hit level 17 to maximize damage either. Very easy to achieve at level 12.
Weapon based Warlocks do not need 8 attacks because they can get an additional 15 damage per hit from Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter and the Lifedrinker Invocation. Also a weapon lock doesn't need to hit level 17 to maximize damage either. Very easy to achieve at level 12.
I was focusing on number of attacks because spirit shroud is a per-attack bonus, and thus you are optimizing spirit shroud by attacking many times. That doesn't mean spirit shroud optimization is overall optimization (though I wouldn't use GWM; a -5 to hit for +10 damage is barely worth it when you're doing 20+ per hit without it).
Why wouldn't you use GWM/Sharpshooter though? Generating advantage to your attack rolls is childs play for a warlock its actually obscene the amount of ways warlocks have to self generate advantage. I mean would you tell your Barbarian to stop using GWM with their Reckless Attacks?
Anyhoo I feel we have strayed a bit too far from the point of this thread which is to discuss Spirit Guardians vs Spirit Shroud on a Cleric.
Because the dpr cost of to-hit penalties varies with your damage. Consider a level 12 hexblade with a +2 weapon, lifedrinker, and spirit shroud (cast at level 5). His attack is +12/1d10+2d8+12 (26.5); against an AC 17 target, 80% chance to hit (96% with advantage), so damage per attack is 21.2 (25.4 with advantage). Using GWM that becomes +7/(36.5), which against AC 17 is 55% to hit for damage per attack 20.1 (29.1 with advantage). That's not completely useless, but it's not worth a feat.
The best use is as burst or nova damage if you multiclass into wizard or sorcerer and upcast Scorching Ray as level 8 to have 9 rays. Upcast Spirit Shroud as level 9 for 4d8. Now you have 9 attacks of 2d6 plus 4d8. If everything hits it is 18 d6 plus 36 d8 in one round. Hard to beat that. That is an average of 225. That is just one round and it burns your 8th and 9th level spell slots, but it is a huge burst. Next round you can cast scorching ray again at level 7 with 8 rays and an average of 200.
If you were up against just one giant opponent, say a tarrasque for instance with 676 average HP, you would have put a pretty big dent in it compared to what spirit guardians would do in the same 2 rounds. It will still probably kill you.
I think Spirit Shroud is balanced around using it on a character with extra attack. And frankly, I think Spirit Guardians would be the stronger concentration spell even when put on a character with extra attack. It's just one hell of a spell. It's a blender of death.
You can drop spiritual weapon for polearm master and still use Spirit Guardians. If you do decide to go for polearm master and warcaster then I think you should look for a way to pick up booming blade. A variant human Arcana Cleric could have all of this online by level 5.
I agree 1000% with the sentiment that you should be looking for ways to flavor the spells. I find spiritual weapon and spirit guardians in particular to be excellent blank canvases with which to create the visual effects you're imagining.
To be frank, I see Spirit Shroud the "poor man's" Spirit Guardians. It's actually a good option for a Paladin who doesn't have access to SG. But if I have access to both, I can't think of a situation where I would prefer the Shroud except if it's strictly for flavor.
Tbh, it took me a while to think of situations where it is directly better, but as you have said the benefits are entirely dependant on attacks that you make.
So in terms of large fights with many smaller targets, Spirit Guardians is superior because it affects all creatures in its area, however, if you are trying to focus fire a single foe Spirit Guardians will do its damage only once a round, whereas Spirit Shroud can stack its damage onto a single enemy multiple times. Ergo, in terms of fighting things like Giants, Dragons, wyverns, basilisks and other extremely tough but solitary creatures, you see a mechanical benefit to choosing spirit shroud and using multiple attacks.
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That would be 8 attacks at level 17, which few people ever achieve.
Doing a multi-class to quicken EB and combine it with Spirit Shroud is a reasonably effective method, but honestly I think a Hexblade is still the better use of Spirit Shroud.
At level 5: (2 warlock/3 Sorcerer) you can pull of 4 EB shots only once before you run out of sorcery points. A Hexblade with PAM can attack 3 times round over round.
When you get into 3 and 4 levels, the EB warlock will have more sorcery points and more EB's per turn, but it's still a limited resource and there's lots of other good (often better) uses for your sorcery points. The Hexblade is also doing a lot more damage per attack, and that's a long into the game before you reach those levels.
Again, I'm not saying the Eldritch Blast / Sorlock build is bad. But I think factoring everything the Hexblade is a more effective choice.
On the flip side: With all of those sorcerer levels you'll have a lot more spell choices and spell slots, and you'll be more like a primary caster. If that's what you want to be, mixing Spirit Shroud with Eldritch Blast is a great option. Even without spending sorcery points to buff EB, it's a great option for getting the most bang on limited resources. One 3rd level spell slot and you can cast cantrips the whole time and still do reasonable damage.
Weapon based Warlocks do not need 8 attacks because they can get an additional 15 damage per hit from Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter and the Lifedrinker Invocation. Also a weapon lock doesn't need to hit level 17 to maximize damage either. Very easy to achieve at level 12.
I was focusing on number of attacks because spirit shroud is a per-attack bonus, and thus you are optimizing spirit shroud by attacking many times. That doesn't mean spirit shroud optimization is overall optimization (though I wouldn't use GWM; a -5 to hit for +10 damage is barely worth it when you're doing 20+ per hit without it).
Why wouldn't you use GWM/Sharpshooter though? Generating advantage to your attack rolls is childs play for a warlock its actually obscene the amount of ways warlocks have to self generate advantage. I mean would you tell your Barbarian to stop using GWM with their Reckless Attacks?
Anyhoo I feel we have strayed a bit too far from the point of this thread which is to discuss Spirit Guardians vs Spirit Shroud on a Cleric.
Because the dpr cost of to-hit penalties varies with your damage. Consider a level 12 hexblade with a +2 weapon, lifedrinker, and spirit shroud (cast at level 5). His attack is +12/1d10+2d8+12 (26.5); against an AC 17 target, 80% chance to hit (96% with advantage), so damage per attack is 21.2 (25.4 with advantage). Using GWM that becomes +7/(36.5), which against AC 17 is 55% to hit for damage per attack 20.1 (29.1 with advantage). That's not completely useless, but it's not worth a feat.
The best use is as burst or nova damage if you multiclass into wizard or sorcerer and upcast Scorching Ray as level 8 to have 9 rays. Upcast Spirit Shroud as level 9 for 4d8. Now you have 9 attacks of 2d6 plus 4d8. If everything hits it is 18 d6 plus 36 d8 in one round. Hard to beat that. That is an average of 225. That is just one round and it burns your 8th and 9th level spell slots, but it is a huge burst. Next round you can cast scorching ray again at level 7 with 8 rays and an average of 200.
If you were up against just one giant opponent, say a tarrasque for instance with 676 average HP, you would have put a pretty big dent in it compared to what spirit guardians would do in the same 2 rounds. It will still probably kill you.
Tbh, it took me a while to think of situations where it is directly better, but as you have said the benefits are entirely dependant on attacks that you make.
So in terms of large fights with many smaller targets, Spirit Guardians is superior because it affects all creatures in its area, however, if you are trying to focus fire a single foe Spirit Guardians will do its damage only once a round, whereas Spirit Shroud can stack its damage onto a single enemy multiple times. Ergo, in terms of fighting things like Giants, Dragons, wyverns, basilisks and other extremely tough but solitary creatures, you see a mechanical benefit to choosing spirit shroud and using multiple attacks.